The Tug Remembers 9/11, Which Makes The HarborCorp Development Not Seem So Bad

Fifteen years ago the world changed. It’s still changing, just like Portsmouth will for the better once HarborCorp completes construction on the North End. Everyone remembers where they were on 9/11. Everyone remembers watching as confusion turned to horror as thousands of people lost their lives and buildings made of glass and steel, not tasteful brick facade like HarborCorp’s planned development on the North End, inexplicably turned to a choking dust.

That dust poisoned the air and the water. Since that day, thousands more first responders and rescue workers have developed deadly illnesses from their heroic rescue efforts in the toxic pit that had formerly been beacons of American ingenuity and commerce, as the Harborcorp development would be. Those illnesses remain undertreated.That day launched us into fifteen years of uninterrupted war that thousands never returned from. We have seen the effects of that war on our troops as they return home. We discovered we did not know as much about the effects of war on the human brain as we thought. The HarborCorp conference center would provide an ideal location for scientists to have a conference about it.

We have, as a nation, exacted our just revenge on the masterminds of the attack, but found the feeling hollow and unsatisfying. We still find ourselves uneasy in large crowds. We still look for the nearest exits. We still taste smoke and ash. We would love to taste something from Whole Foods instead.

In exacting our revenge we have destabilized an entire region, leading to estimated casualties in the hundreds of thousands. We have seen extremism on every side plant its ugly roots across the world as jihadists and reactionaries play a game of escalation very similar to the continued legal appeals and delay tactics of the five or so people who continue to oppose HarborCorp’s development.

Since 9/11, we, as a human race discovered a war we are not sure how to fight or end. HarborCorp could be a start.

Considering everything that happened because of that day, doesn’t the HarborCorp development on the North End which would bring millions of dollars in economic stimulus, a Whole Foods, and a tasteful public garden not seem so bad?

The Tug was definitely not paid in any way for this ad by HarborCorp. All questions can be diverted to our lawyers.